Title
Information Technologies Department recommending the Board:
1) Make findings in accordance with Procurement Policy C-17, Section 3.4 (4), that the purchases with ePlus Technology Inc. are exempt from Competitive Bidding due to there being a competitively bid contract with another public agency available;
2) Authorize the use of competitively bid Utah NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement AR3229 and the State of California Participating Addendum 7-20-70-47-06 between Palo Alto Networks, Inc. and the State of Utah as the lead public agency, for the renewal of Palo Alto Firewall support services for the County’s firewall infrastructure;
3) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue a Purchase Order to ePlus Technology Inc. in the amount of $116,447.91 for the purchase of Palo Alto PA-3220 Firewall Support for the period of October 7, 2026, through August 31, 2028; and,
4) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue a Purchase Order to ePlus Technology Inc. in the amount of $93,824.43 for the purchase of Palo Alto PA-850 Firewall Support for the period of October 7, 2026, through August 31, 2029.
FUNDING: General Fund, with partial cost recovery in future years through the A-87 Cost Plan.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. A firewall typically establishes a barrier between physical and logical network segments. The Information Technologies (IT) Department currently employs internal firewalls at several County locations which significantly reduce our cyber risk by creating additional security barriers between El Dorado County business departments. These firewalls are a critical component of the County's continued efforts to maintain existing technology infrastructure to provide flexible, fast, secure virtual workspace for all employees to be able to work from any device or location. The firewalls help provide network redundancy, resiliency, and business continuity objectives.
The Utah NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement AR3229 is a competitively bid agreement with Palo Alto Networks, Inc. for data communications products and services. The State of California Participating Addendum 7-20-70-47-06 allows local governments to use the master agreement through September 30, 2026, for routers, switches, security firewalls, and storage networking products and services. Procurement Policy C-17, Section 3.4 (4) allows for the exemption from competitive bidding when utilizing a contract that uses a competitive bidding process substantially the same as the County’s process. The Participating Addendum allows for authorized resellers for sales and service functions. The County has identified ePlus as an authorized reseller under the agreements. The original NASPO Agreement AR3229 and Participating Addendum 7-20-70-47-06 and Amendment I, II, and III have been reviewed and approved by County Counsel.
The IT Department currently has two sets of firewalls for renewal. The PA-3220 firewalls on ePlus Quote 23560540 go to end-of-life and are only eligible for support coverage through August 31, 2028. The PA-850 firewalls on ePlus Quote 23560523 are eligible for support coverage through August 31, 2029 and are set to co-term with other County equipment. We have requested ePlus give us separate quotes based on the coverage dates for processing purposes. As the combined total of these two renewal is over the Purchasing Agent signature authority, we are bringing this purchase request to the Board for approval.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could decide not to approve this purchase and provide alternate direction for firewall support.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
Legistar file 17-1216 - November 14, 2017 - Firewall upgrades for end-of-life equipment
Legistar files 20-1013 & 20-1158 - August 4, 2020 and September 1, 2020 - CARES purchase approvals that included two Palo Alto Networks firewalls for the internet bandwidth upgrade project to increase teleworking capabilities.
Legistar file 21-0558 - April 20, 2021 - The Board authorized the purchase of Palo Alto Firewall equipment, three-year support and maintenance, and consultation services.
Legistar file 23-1590 - September 19, 2023 - The Board authorized the continuation of Palo Alto main firewall support through June 10, 2025.
Legistar file 25-0889 - May 20, 2025 - The Board authorized the continuation of Palo Alto remote firewall support through June 10, 2028.
Legistar file 26-0805 - May 19, 2026 - The Board authorized the addition of three Palo Alto firewalls, along with three-year support and maintenance.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Procurement and Contracts
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The IT Department Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget contains sufficient appropriations for this cost. Future year costs will be budgeted appropriately.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
N/A
CONTACT
Amanda Earnshaw, Chief Information Officer